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** 16 May 2023
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** UK
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** £14bn A Year Up In Smoke – Economic Toll Of Smoking In England Revealed (#1)
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** BAT appoints new chief to succeed Jack Bowles immediately (#2)
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** International
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** Butt why? The EU countries weighing a ban on cigarette filters to deter smoking and cut pollution (#3)
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** UK
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** £14bn A Year Up In Smoke – Economic Toll Of Smoking In England Revealed
The £14bn annual toll of smoking on the nation’s economy is disclosed today (Tuesday 16th May), amid growing calls for a levy on big tobacco companies.
A new economic analysis of national data commissioned by charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) takes a closer look at the impact of smoking on productivity in England.
Smoking related ill-health is the most likely reason for this impact with smokers facing job losses, reduction in wages, and being more likely to die prematurely – all of which is taking a huge toll on individuals, families and the economy.
The overall cost of smoking to society in England is £17.3 billion, including a significant cost to the NHS and social care. Smoking-related hospital admissions and primary care treatments cost £1.9bn yearly, while it costs local authorities in England £1.1bn each year on care for smoking-related illnesses in later life.
It’s estimated that to provide paid-for care to meet needs would cost society a further £14bn. This is not included in the overall £17.3bn figure but illustrates the wider burden of smoking.
Meanwhile the tobacco industry makes billions of pounds in profit each year, as smokers and their families pay the price for addictions established in childhood.
ASH and health campaigners around the country are urging the government to bring in a ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco companies to pay towards prevention and treatment.
Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health said: “Smoking is a massive burden on society. It costs individuals in terms of their health and wealth and it costs us all when smokers are too ill to work.
“Smoking is still the leading cause of preventable ill-health and death in the country but resources to tackle it have been reduced. Recent announcements by Public Health Minister will not be enough to meet the Government’s ambition for England to be smokefree by 2030. We urgently need a levy on tobacco companies to pay for services which support people to quit smoking and to prevent uptake among young people.”
Bob Blackman MP, Chairman of the APPG on Smoking and Health, said: "As a former council leader, I know a key priority for all local authorities is to deliver economic growth, increase employment opportunities and protect their communities from the cost of living crisis. The ASH Ready Reckoner is a valuable tool enabling every local authority to analyse the damage smoking is doing to their community and demonstrate how tackling smoking can boost the local economy as well as protecting families from the pain of losing loved ones too early.”
Source: The Yorkshire Times, 16 May 2023
See also: ASH - Ready Reckoner | ([link removed]) London Post - Economic toll of smoking in London revealed ([link removed])
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** BAT appoints new chief to succeed Jack Bowles immediately
British American Tobacco chief executive Jack Bowles has stepped down with immediate effect, three weeks after the London-listed company agreed to pay a $635mn penalty over breaches of US sanctions on North Korea.
The penalty that BAT paid last month to US authorities was the largest settlement of its kind and related to business activities between 2007 and 2017.
Bowles served as head of the tobacco company’s Asia-Pacific division between 2013 and 2017. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
His departure “does not come as a complete surprise” given the sanctions violations, wrote analysts at JPMorgan, which noted that the breaches occurred at least partly during the time Bowles was leading BAT’s Asia-Pacific business.
BAT accepted it had violated US sanctions by supplying nearly $30mn worth of cigarettes to North Korea’s Singaporean embassy. It also accepted processing just over $250mn worth of cash from sanctioned North Korean banks through US financial institutions as payment for indirectly exporting cigarettes into the communist country.
Source: The Financial Times, 15 May 2023
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** International
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** Butt why? The EU countries weighing a ban on cigarette filters to deter smoking and cut pollution
Health and environmental campaigners are calling for a European ban on cigarette filters, saying it would fight pollution and discourage people from smoking.
Cigarette butts are the second most common litter found on European beaches, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Last year, WHO called on governments worldwide to consider cigarette filters as single-use plastics and ban them as they damage the environment and have no proven health benefits.
Littered tobacco products release 7,000 toxic chemicals, and the butts contain microplastics, which are known to be difficult to decay and pollute nature.
Some European countries including the Netherlands are now weighing a ban on cigarette filters.
“An outright ban on single-use cigarette filters appears to be the most effective option to counteract the harmful environmental effects of this type of litter,” the Dutch junior infrastructure minister Vivianne Heijnen told lawmakers in April.
“There are no proven health benefits to smoking cigarettes with a filter,” she added.
Last month, the Superior Health Council in Belgium suggested a European-wide ban on cigarette filters.
In a report, it argued that filters offer smokers a more “pleasant mouthfeel” and give them a “false sense of security”.
Health campaigners in Denmark agree and have joined the calls for a ban.
“We suggest that we forbid cigarette filters. We base this proposal on the intuitive (mis)understanding that cigarette filters have some sort of protective influence. We want to get rid of the false security,” Niels Them Kjær, in charge of tobacco control at the Danish Cancer Society, told Danish broadcast TV2.
Source: Euronews, 15 May 2023
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
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